Belle Wong: writer, reader, creativity junkie

Review: Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

I haven’t had much of an appetite for reading lately—I’ve got such big changes going on in my life and while decisions have been made, things are still in a transition phase (I’ll write more about that in a later post, once things have settled down) and some days it feels a little like limbo. And when that happens, I feel restless, and when I’m restless I can’t focus. Which means reading hasn’t been tempting me.

But then one day I was pacing aimlessly around the place, and my eyes lit on Book Scavenger, which I had out from the library.

I’d seen it earlier this year on NetGalley, but it was only available for UK reviewers. I’d liked the book’s description so much, I checked my library, found they had it on pre-order and put a hold on it. Then I forgot about it until it came in for me a few weeks ago.

I picked it up and reread the blurb. The plot, which is a mystery, centres around a book-hiding game called Book Scavenger. And it sounds like a really awesome game: you hide books and find others’ hidden books using codes and ciphers—kind of like Book Crossing taken to a whole new—gaming—level.

Reading the blurb, I remembered why I’d put a hold on Book Scavenger in the first place.

A mystery about books. And puzzles. Who can resist this?

I certainly couldn’t. Even in my restless state, I sat down and began reading. And I was hooked right from the start, which begins with the rules of the Book Scavenger game.

Oh, how I wish such a game really did exist! It would be so much fun!

I also loved Emily, who’s so unused to having friends because her parents are on a quest to have 50 homes in 50 states (a theme which they’ve turned into a successful blog of the same name). And James, the puzzle whiz who has affectionately named his cowlick Steve. The mystery is intriguing, the way the two kids are involved is very credible, the stakes are high and the puzzles are sheer fun.

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I'm a writer, avid reader, artist-at-heart & book indexer. I blog about writing, books, art, creativity, spirituality, & the power of the imagination. Oh, and I like to write stuff about life in general, too!

"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot." - Stephen King

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The purpose of being a serious writer is not to express oneself, and it is not to make something beautiful, though one might do those things anyway. Those things are beside the point. The purpose of being a serious writer is to keep people from despair. If you keep that in mind always, the wish to make something beautiful or smart looks slight and vain in comparison. If people read your work and, as a result, choose life, then you are doing your job.

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